A/C blower removal

[Raymond Compton]

The blower on my A/C howls at any speed leading me to believe that there is at least one bearing failing. Adam DeRosa sent me a video of his A/C and his definitely does not howl. The car is at the body shop getting the final touches on a paint job. When I get it home, eliminating the noise is one of my top projects.

I understand that the blower assembly is a pain to remove under the best scenario but, as you can see below, I wish to make it more complicated.

All of the interior carpet and molded plastic side panels are out of the car, exposing the blower assembly. Is it possible to remove the blower without disconnecting the evaporator? Because my A/C is a R-134 conversion, the evaporator and its fittings are still R-12 flair fittings. Right now, they do not leak and I would hate to introduce a leak by opening those lines.

So, does anyone have any insight in to the possibility of getting the blower assembly out without disturbing the evaporator?

As always, any and all suggestions are welcome.